INTRODUCTION TO CLASSIFICATION OF GARDEN TULIPS. 5 



and to change a little in the direction of purple as the individual 

 bloom ages. If it is superimposed upon white mesophyll it becomes 

 the typical colour of that Tulip ; superimposed upon a yellow ground 

 it forms the true scarlets, oranges, and light and dark browns, which 

 characterize the Tulips called ' Bizarres.' Lastly, there is in some 

 Tulips a second yellow pigment, related, however, to the anthocyanins 

 and present in the epidermis alongside of the normal red or purple. 

 This gives the flower a flushed or " shot " effect, often very beautiful. 

 This latter yellow pigment bleaches rapidly, and may even disappear 

 as the bloom ages. 



One other colour property of the Tulip, a very special one, must 

 be dealt with here : that is, .the process known as " breaking." When 

 a Tulip seedling first blooms, if it contains any anthocyanin pigments, 

 i.e. red or purple, that colour will be uniformly diffused all over the 

 surface of the segments, and the result is a self-coloured flower (save 

 for the base) known as a " breeder." This bulb and those which arise 

 from offsets in succeeding years remain similarly breeders, but sooner or 

 later some, and doubtless eventually all, will undergo a remarkable 

 change, known as " breaking." In the broken flower the anthocyanin 

 pigment is no longer diffused all over the surface, but is segregated into 

 stripes up the middle of each segment or fine featherings upon its edges. 

 Often the shade changes somewhat on breaking ; as a rule it becomes 

 more intense. The offsets from a bulb that has thrown a broken flower 

 will always be broken. As far. as is known, reversion to the breeder 

 state never takes place ; though the markings of broken colour, which 

 vary considerably in shape and distribution from year to year, may 

 with age almost overspread the whole segment, still these heavy 

 broken flowers are always to be distinguished from the true breeders. 

 Breaking is accompanied by other changes in the plant. The leaves 

 generally show a distinct mottling in the green ; the stem possesses 

 markings of anthocyanin pigment ; the size, height, and vigour of 

 the plant are reduced, and it does not throw offsets so freely. 

 The cause of breaking remains unknown ; change of soil, a hot 

 and dry situation accelerate it, but we are acquainted with no 

 method of preventing it. It is a property of all garden Tulips 

 containing the anthocyanin pigment, i.e. of all except the white and 

 yellow selfs. 



This property of breaking adds greatly to the difficulty of 

 classifying Tulips for garden purposes ; the breeder and the broken 

 or rectified flowers arising from it are so distinct that their common 

 origin, indeed identity, would not be suspected, and they subserve 

 quite different purposes in the garden. Hence a scientific classifica- 

 tion based upon colour becomes as impossible as one based upon 

 origin, and the Committee has fallen back upon a purely empirical 

 classification based upon garden convenience alone. This aims at 

 bringing into the same class flowers which " match " and possess similar 

 habits, such as time of flowering, style of growth, colour, and shape. 

 As a rule, flowers in the same class will be more nearly related than 



